Employees’ knowledge and competencies are, ultimately, what drives companies’ competitiveness.
Therefore, companies might have an interest in promoting the further development of their workers’ skills and capabilities by offering them their support to undertake an educational path at a business school or, however, to enroll at a master.
In fact, companies, according to their budget and their objectives, might decide to sponsor and support in a new cicle of studies some of their employees by bearing partially or entirely its costs.
The employee(s) who will benefit of such a precious opportunity, however, must be carefully chosen; in fact, business schools and masters can be rather expensive, therefore, the opportunity to attend them must be given only to trustworthy employees with the right attitude towards learning and studying.
Specific rules must also be set: the company is making an investment, therefore it must be sure that the beneficiary employee will keep on working for the company for at least a certain amount of time after the graduation; the worker-student might need a greater number of days-off to study and/or attend classes, an issue that must be carefully managed to avoid excessive costs; of course, an agreement must be reached about what percentage of the costs of the course will be covered by the company.
Although potentially expensive, however, paying for a master or the enrollment at a business school of the employees has some undeniable benefits:
- They will become more productive and will be able to solve specific problems which the company is facing, leading it to the success also in competitive environments;
- They will develop a, potentially useful, wide network of contacts during their studies; if they will study abroad or with other foreign students they will also obtain an international perspective;
- Employees who will receive such an opportunity will be grateful and more devoted to the company, improving its retention rate;
Investing in new knowledge is, also, always a good way to be prepared for the future and to face the challenges of innovation.
If you want to know more about this topic check out INNovaSouth’s manual here!